Chevy Volt Gets Equivalent of Up to 93 Mpg

General Motors said Wednesday the Chevy Volt can get up to 93 mpg when in all-electric mode.

NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- General Motors ( GM) announced Wednesday that its Chevrolet Volt can get the equivalent of 93 miles per gallon in combined city and highway driving while powered by electricity.

On gas and electric, the car will get 60 mpg -- maybe.

Because of the complexity of how the Volt runs -- it's powered by electricity, gas or a combination of both -- its fuel economy depends on how it's driven. The Volt's fuel economy sticker, which looks different from labels before it, was created by GM and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and is intended to help drivers "understand what to expect when they drive the Volt," said the company in a press release. "Before plug-in cars like the Volt, calculating fuel economy was simply a matter of filling the tank with fuel, driving the vehicle and dividing the distance by the amount of fuel consumed."

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The Chevy Volt, which goes on sale within weeks, can run 25 to 50 miles on a battery and then about 300 miles more on an engine, via a gasoline-powered generator that makes electricity. The gas tank holds 9.3 gallons of gas.

GM has a lot riding on the Volt and the company recently told TheStreet that the Volt is "the next step in the transformation of our company." A successful launch of the compact, environmentally-conscious car has the potential to place GM among the leaders in the movement away from gasoline-dependency.

The Volt is projected to cost $41,000, or $33,500 after a federal rebate. GM has said that dealers already have orders exceeding the total of 10,000 Volts that the company hopes to produce in the first model year between November and June. Production could reach 45,000 in the next model year, the company said.

Earlier in the week, Nissan announced that its all-electric Leaf would get an estimated 99 mpg in combined city and highway driving.